Matt Rutherford Completing Circumnavigation of the Americas Within Hours

Posted on by April 17, 2012

Matt Rutherford, sailing St. Brendan, a 27′ Albin Vega, is within hours of sailing into the Chesapeake Bay, finishing his solo circumnavigation of the Americas!  Matt is planning to on setting foot on-shore for the first time in 25,000 miles-at-sea, at noon, Saturday, April 21 at Annapolis City Dock.  Our heartfelt congratulation on an amazing voyage. To learn more go to: Solo Around the Americas

Matt’s motivation for the trip was to show people, particularly those with disabilities, that there are no limits to what can be accomplished in life; and to raise money for Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating (CRAB), a nonprofit sailing program for people with disabilities, based in Annapolis, Md.

Photographs of Human Remains and the Fight Over What Remains of the Titanic

Posted on by April 17, 2012

2004 photo of a boot and possibly a coat on the seafloor near the Titanic. Photo:Institute for Exploration/Center for Ocean Exploration at the University of Rhode Island/NOAA Office of Exploration and Research

Very few of the bodies of the 1514 passengers and crews who died on the Titanic were ever recovered.  Recently released photographs, which raise the question of whether or not here are human remains at the wreck site, have become central to a larger battle over who should protect the wreck and  how it should be preserved.

In the last few days, the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration has released photographs that they suggest show human remains at the wreck site. One photo, which actually dates back to 2004 (but which was previously cropped for publication)  shows boots and clothes laid out in a  pattern which might suggest a human body.  “There are people inside,” said James Delgado, director of maritime heritage at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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Arnold Maersk Mc-Kinney Moeller, of A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, Dies at 98

Posted on by April 16, 2012

Danish shipping magnate Arnold Maersk Mc-Kinney Moeller died today at aged 98.  He was Denmark’s richest man who created the country’s largest enterprise, the shipping and oil conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S.  The conglomerate is the largest container ship and supply vessel operator in the world, with subsidiaries and offices in more than 135 countries worldwide and around 108,000 employees.  Mc-Kinney Moeller built the shipping company into a corporation with annual sales last year of $60 billion — equivalent to almost 20 percent of Denmark’s gross domestic product.  Mc-Kinney Moeller stepped down as board chairman in 2003, at the age of 90.

Mc-Kinney Moeller, Denmark’s Richest Man, Dies at 98

Thanks to Phil Leon for passing along the news.

OpSail 2012 Getting Underway in New Orleans, then Sailing for New York

Posted on by April 16, 2012

The 47th Operation Sail, OpSail 2012 gets underway tomorrow, April 17th and will continue through the 23rd, in the port of New Orleans, LA.   It will feature the tall ships Dewaruci from Indonesia, the BAE Guayas from Equador and the USCG Eagle from the United States.  Six non-sail naval vessels from four nations will also be in participation.

From May 23-30, 2012, OpSail will shift to New York harbor. The Dewaruci,  BAE Guayas and the USCG Eagle will be joined by the Class A & B tall ships,  Cisne Branco from Brazil, Gloria from Colombia, Juan Sebastian De El Cano from Spain, Cuauhtemoc from Mexico, and Etoile and Belle Poule from France.  other sailing vessels participating include the Adirondack, America 2.0, Clipper City, Gazela Primeiro, Pioneer, Pride of Baltimore II, Shearwater and the Summerwind.

After New York, OpSail 2012 will sail to Norfolk (June 1-12), Baltimore (June 13-19), Boston (June 30-July 5) and New London (July 6-8.)  Thanks to Irwin Irwin Bryan and  Miroslav at Antic.org for contributing to the post.

Titanics In Tennessee & Missouri, Pirates of the Caribbean, Napoleonland & the Commercialization of History

Posted on by April 15, 2012

The Titanic of Tennessee with concrete iceberg

Today, on the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic with the loss of 1,514 lives, it would be appropriate for a learned historian at an august university to sit down to ponder the commercialization of history and to consider how our consumer culture turns tragedy into theme parks.

This came to mind from articles about the Titanic of Tennessee, a sort of half-length half scale replica of the ship in the mountains of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee which opened as a “museum attraction” two years ago. (See our previous post, Titanic Museum to Open in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee?)  I am not sure exactly what a “museum attraction might be. Fortunately Mary Kellogg-Joslyn, the Titanic Museum Attractions owner explains, “This museum is not a thrill ride or Hollywood style museum. It is an interactive experience that brings in all elements of the famous and tragic Titanic story for families to experience.”  One can only hope that bringing in all elements of the experience does not include drowning in the dark in icy water.  That would certainly cut down on repeat visitors.
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Joseph Conrad on the Titanic – On Experts, Icebergs, Lifeboats and Biscuit Tins

Posted on by April 15, 2012

In June of 1912, Joseph Conrad wrote “Some Reflections on the Loss of the Titanic” for the English Review.  While best known as a novelist, his comments reflect his years as a ship’s officer in both sail and steam.   He finds little to like in the events of that night in April, one hundred years ago today, or the events which followed. A few of Conrad’s thoughts on the media, icebergs, the design of unsinkable ships, biscuit tins and the romanticizing of needless death.

On the Media:
He was offended by what we would all the media circus following the sinking.  “It is with a certain bitterness that one must admit to oneself that the late _S.S. Titanic_ had a “good press.” ….. the white spaces and the big lettering of the headlines have an incongruously festive air to my eyes, a disagreeable effect of a feverish exploitation of a sensational God-send.”
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Sailors Missing, One Dead in Full Crew Farallones Race off San Fransciso

Posted on by April 16, 2012

Slow Speed Chase from 2009 Photo: Kat Wade / Special to The Chronicle

Update: Sad news. As of Sunday Evening, the Coast Guard suspended the search for the four crew missing after the 38′ yacht Slow Speed Chase ran aground in Farallones Race off San Francisco on Saturday.

Three or four sailors are missing and one is confirmed dead after the 38′ yacht Slow Speed Chase ran aground Saturday afternoon in the Farallon Islands off San Francisco, CA while competing in the Full Crew Farallones Race.  The Yacht Racing Association of San Francisco Bay and the SFGate are reporting that there were seven sailors aboard the yacht. Three were rescued, three are missing and one has died.  CNN, the New York Times and the AP are reporting that there were eight crew aboard and that four remain missing.  The US Coast Guard is now searching for the missing sailors.  From the New York Times:

1 Dead, 4 Missing in Yacht Race Accident.
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Myths of the Titanic – Did White Star Line Claim the Ship was Unsinkable?

Posted on by April 14, 2012

The BBC recently published an article titled “Five Titanic myths spread by films.”  The first alleged myth is that the White Star Line never claimed that the Titanic was “unsinkable.”   The article asserts: ” The White Star Line never made any substantive claims that the Titanic was unsinkable – and nobody really talked about the ship’s unsinkability until after the event..”   One hears this claim over and over.  White Star Line never claimed that the Titanic was unsinkable.  But is it accurate?

It is true that White Star did not prominently feature “unsinkability” in its advertising. Their slogan was “Largest and finest steamers in the world.”  Nevertheless, there is strong evidence that White Star, and indeed most experts of the day, did consider the Titanic to be unsinkable.
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J.P. Morgan, RMS Titanic and SS United States

Posted on by August 20, 2020

What does J.P. Morgan, the American financier, and the passenger ships, RMS Titanic and SS United States have in common?

Everyone knows that White Star Line, the owner of the RMS Titanic, was a British Company. Fewer are aware that White Star was owned by an American.  It was a wholly owned subsidiary of the International Mercantile Marine Company (IMM), an American holding company owned by J.P. Morgan.  J. Bruce Ismay, chairman of the White Star Line, sold the company to J.P. Morgan in 1902.  The RMS Titanic, like all the other ships of the White Star fleet, was a British ship, and technically, as an American, J.P. Morgan could not own British ships.  Nevertheless, Morgan took advantage of the loophole that his holding company, IMM, could own the company that owned the ships. For all intents and purposes, J.P. Morgan owned the Titanic. It was not one of his better investments, for reasons having nothing to do with icebergs.
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Pouring the Ballast on the Boston Tea Party Ship Beaver

Posted on by April 13, 2012

The Beaver, a replica of one of ships that were the center of the Boston Tea Party in the run-up to the American Revolution, was relaunched in January after a major rebuild at the Gloucester Marine Railways.  The Beaver and the replica Eleanor will be displayed at the new $27 million  Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum on Fort Point Channel in Boston, which will open in June of this year.  A third ship, the  Dartmouth, will be built from scratch, and is expected to be completed in about two years.

Leon Poindexter, the master shipwright leading the project, has been broadcasting a series of Youtube Webisodes. Here is Ballast for the Beaver, episode 45, where concrete is being poured in the ship for ballast.   I am not familiar with the use of concrete for ballast in wooden ships.  If anyone is able to enlighten me, I would appreciate it.  Thanks to Tom Russell at the Traditional Sail Professionals Linked-in Group for pointing it out the video.

[iframe: width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/51j6Tsgpgow?rel=0″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen]

Standoff in the South China Sea – Philippine and Chinese Ships Face-off at Scarborough Shoal

Posted on by April 13, 2012

BRP Gregorio del Pilar

The South China Sea is home to a myriad of competing claims for territory, fishing, oil and mineral rights by China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan.  There is currently a stand-off between Chinese ships and the Philippine navy and coast guard vessels at Scarborough Shoal, located between the Macclesfield Bank and Luzon, Philippines in the South China  Sea.  Sovereignty  over Scarborough Shoal, a series of islands and an atoll,  is claimed by the Philippines, China and Taiwan.

As reported by the Manila Standard:   The current standoff began Sunday when a Navy surveillance plane sighted eight Chinese fishing vessels anchored in a lagoon at Scarborough, the Foreign Affairs Department said. That prompted the military to deploy its largest warship, the Hamilton class cutter BRP Gregorio del Pilar, which was recently acquired from the United States.
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Letters from the Titanic – Note Returning to Belfast & Accusation of Drinking by Captain Smith

Posted on by April 12, 2012

Two letters from the Titanic are in the news.  One is a letter from Dr. John Edward Simpson, who died when the ship sank,   He wrote to his mother on April 11, 1912, on notepaper headed RMS Titanic, and had it mailed from Cohb, Ireland, the last port of call prior to the ship sailing across the North Atlantic. The letter, which was owned by a collector in Long Island, NY will be returning  Belfast to be part of a new Titanic exhibition.

A second, somewhat controversial, letter was written by Titanic survivor, Emily Richards, a second class passenger, who claims to have seen Captain Smith a drinking few hours before the collision.  The letter written on board the Carpathia, which rescued survivors from the sinking, blames the captain for the sinking:

‘The Captain was down in the saloon drinking and gave charge to some-one else to stare(sic) the ship.  ‘It was the Captan(sic) fault. ‘My poor brother George … drowned as far as we know now.’

Captain Smith who went down with the ship, was exonerated by by the British enquiry into the disaster and not all believe Ms. Richard’s account.

Was the captain of the Titanic drunk on the night the ship struck an iceberg? Letter written by survivor claims skipper was in saloon bar before liner sank
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You Mean the Titanic was Real and Not Just a Movie?

Posted on by April 10, 2012

Last year, we posted about how the sinking of the Titanic had morphed from a maritime tragedy into a cultural icon.   For many, Hollywood movies, particularly the movie made by Jame Cameron, about the sinking of the ship may be more important than the sinking of the ship itself.  Taking the process one step further, the Gothamist recently posted an account of folks tweeting their surprise and shock that Titanic was a real ship and not just a movie (!)

PSA: The Titanic Was Real, Not Just A Movie
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Building the Titanic – There’s an App for That !

Posted on by April 5, 2012

So you want to build an unsinkable passenger liner? Well, there is an app for that!  OK, not really, but National Geographic has developed a free “Building the Titanic” app for the iPad, which looks at the construction of the ship.   Preview the app here: Building Titanic: An Interactive Timeline or download from the App Store: Building Titanic

Now, with the free Building Titanic app, travel back in time and witness Titanic’s construction. You control the assembly of the majestic liner as you explore a dynamic interactive timeline and watch the great ship being built in simulated time-lapse, right before your eyes. 

  • Over 50 in-depth points-of-interest along a dynamic interactive timeline of her construction.
  • More than 100 rare photos detail every aspect of her assembly.
  • Incredible archival film shows the laborers who built her in action.
  • Special previews of upcoming James Cameron and Bob Ballard Titanic documentaries from the National Geographic Channel.
Thanks to Captain Richard Rodriguez for pointing it out on his Bitter End Blog.